Feb 8 - 11 - Everglades National Park

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Finally we have arrived at one of my favorite places and cornerstone of the trip. The first two nights, we stayed at the top of the park at Long Pine CG for shopping, laundry and early morning time at the Anhinga Trail. While it was snowing in Massachusetts, it was one of the hottest, most uncomfortable two days and a night on our trip. 

The waters were high at Anhinga so bird life was more sparse than normal. It was a beautiful morning with the sun rising up through fog. In fact, I saw my first fog rainbow that was a complete semicircle of white fog but unfortunately I only had a zoom lens that couldn’t capture it. 

As you will see by the photos, this posting is for the birds but the quality of the photos is all about the person I met on the trail, Roger. He was very patient with tips for improving my technique using the zoom. The lens, a Nikon 200-500mm, is new and the Everglades a perfect place to try it out. Side by side, I could compare my settings so I could get a better idea where I should be starting for birds in flight or wading in the water. The Crested Caracara was taken on the way to the Everglades and sharpen a bit. All the rest were taken after my time with Roger w/no sharpening. If only I had tagged along a bit longer. Many thanks R!

Knowing our plans and habits, Steve & Ellen surprised us and pulled into the Anhinga Trail just as I came out so off we all went to do our errands. The next day, we moved down to join S & E in Flamingo CG. With the screen tent up and fresher air from a passing front, we are settling in to our two weeks here.

Ocala down to Dupuis WMA, FL - Feb 3 - 7

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Coming into Salt Spring CG in Ocala NF brought back memories. The electric sites were full but we prefer the primitive area anyway and were assigned #143. Once settled, we realized we had been in this site about 5+ years ago. Memorable because this was the place I ducked under a palm and ended up with many tiny nymph size ticks in my hair. No bushwhacking this time.

It would have been easy to type cast our neighbors and look for another vacant site They obviously had been there for a while which is common in warm areas. With time they grew on us and their stories unfolded. 

John had a camper truck with NH ‘Nam license plates and trailer for his Harley. He had picked up Dave who is best described as a hobo hitchhiking from Iowa to Fl with his springer spaniel pup Gabe. Russell, a man w/out a home, had just been invited into the group having come out of the forest. All were disabled vets looking out for each other. John was quiet and walked with the stature of an officer but had just gone through a fusion of 3 cervical vertebra. Russell spoke in riddles, wore funny hats and spent most of the time in the forest w/a machete gathering wood.

Holding true to all the folks we have met from Iowa, Dave was an open, friendly, common sense kind of guy and handsome under all the road dirt. He bonded to Harry and gave him tips on fly casting. They swapped flies. Russell brought us wood. I gave them oranges from the local produce stand as well as a griddle meant to stay home. It was a good stay.

Moving on, we went to Blue Cypress Lake near Indiantown for one night to check it out. This is a water management and conservation area under the guise of a fish camp. There is no charge although they have showers and toilet facilities. The camping area is grassy diagonal parking on a finger of land bordered by a fishing canal and cedar swamp. Although the lake is big, the only place you can look out is from a walking bridge. Unsettling was a dead cotton mouth snake hit by a car not far from our van. Without kayaks to explore, one night was enough. The next stop will help connect the dots w/Blue Cypress and explain the lazy guy that throws a plug into the fishing canal and goes back into his vehicle waiting sometimes overnight for the bobber to move.

Steve & Ellen are a week ahead and have been our scouts on this journey sending reports back. They spent some time in Dupuis WMA and it sounded like a good spot. There is no charge but you need to get a permit online or at the visitor’s center. This is a great place w/many pros and one con - generator use. It is heavy mainly because the folks that stay here are for the most part squatters who sit out in their chairs hanging out. We learned more about one group’s patterns after going just once to their nightly happy hour. You can stay here for 8 days and then you must leave for at least one night and then come back for another 8 and repeat again and again. The popular alternative is Blue Cypress Lake so there is a community of people that travel back and forth. Just as a point of note, our neighbors at Salt Spring were far more interesting.

What is worth the stay is nature - the great horned owl nest w/young in the middle of the campsite and the miles of trails to bike, hike and bird. There is a graded hard packed crushed shell road that is an easy 6 mile bike ride down to a pier. Biking down, there was another owl’s nest w/a barred owl peaking out. Down at the pier while having lunch, we watched at least a 10’ alligator catch and eat a good size fish. And then there were the two guys who were birders that gave me TMI about the local snakes. They also spoke of driving the power lines at Gate 1 (take a left as you come in) for good birding for species such as crested caracara, cranes, etc. Another suggestion was Fox Bound Road just east of Indiantown as a good place for the same type of birds. We won’t have time on this visit because we are off to Long Pine CG in the Everglades tomorrow but good information to store. We would come back.

Santee Coastal Reserve, SC - Feb 1 - 2

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Perfect temperatures of 60-70 during the day and 40’s at night. The best review for Santee comes from Harry giving it a 10! Music to my ears! The campground is spacious and beautiful under the live oaks. Many trails through woods, marshland, cedar swamps and impoundments. It was quite birdy for this time of year with a highlight of many red-cocked woodpeckers. Photos will tell more.

Southbound, SC - Jan 29 - 31

Sounds like our departure from NE was well timed given today's weather report (1/31). Tonight is our 2nd night at Buck Hall in the Frances Marion National Forest near McClennanville, SC. Always a favorite, Buck Hall is on the ICW w/the Cape Romain NWR across the canal. Far enough south to fill water tanks and recoup from two long days of driving, there is the added benefit of hikes, showers, wildlife and fresh shrimp from the fishing boats in McClennanville. 

On our first day, we made it to a Cracker Barrel in Manassas, VA south of DC and commuter traffic - 487 miles. This was a good spot w/dark, quiet parking that backed up to a field for Nina. The next day was cold at 32 degrees with a layer of snow so we booked it another 485 miles to Buck Hall.

Tomorrow will take us about 16 miles back north to Santee Coastal Refuge for one maybe two nights. I had been there before with Steve & Ellen and although beautiful the bugs were horrendous. We were out driving about today so checked it out for their primitive campground. We both loved it. Fishing pier, roads for biking lined with live oaks and of course there are birds. The CG normally requires a permit but not this time of year and no bugs!

Cobscook Bay, LLBeans in ME and Home - Aug 6 - 9

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Picnicking on the Canadian side to consume tomatoes, avocados and apples before clearing customs into the US. What we couldn't eat did indeed get confiscated, at least in Speedy. Our agent didn't seem comfortable enough to climb in with Nina. Way to go Nina!

It was a trip down memory lane returning to the Cobscook Bay area after about 44 years. The field station where I stayed is still there now owned by Suffolk University but sadly locked tight.

Passing through Washington County, the endless blueberry fields were in the process of being harvested in time for the Machias Wild Blueberry Festival held the 3rd weekend in August. One more festival we will miss but there were countless stands for buying blueberries. The ones we stopped at looked to be maintained by Wyman's perhaps to satisfy those of us who would otherwise be tempted to pick.

Fundy National Park, New Brunswick - Aug 4 - 5

Working our way back south along the coast, we ended up at Fundy National Park for a couple nights. Driving down to the Visitor's Center from the campsite this morning, we realized we were above this incredible fog bank that looked like a mountain range.

We hiked along the Western Coastal Trail for a short while through a mature forest with peaks of the water every once in a while. It was a gray windy day but good for a hike.

I haven't seen "indian pipes" since I was a kid walking in the woods with my mom who knew every living plant.

Tomorrow there is an 80% chance of rain but for us it will be a day of traveling back across the border to the US with the hopes of finding a place to rest for a couple days in Cobs Cook, ME. I came here back in 1972 when I took a summer course in marine biology so am looking forward to seeing the area again.

PEI - July 31 - Aug 3

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Crossing over the bridge to Prince Edward Island was amazing. We spent most of our time on the North Coast which is landscaped with crops of corn, grain (wheat perhaps), lots of potatoes, yards filled w/thyme and mustard fields like this one. The soil, sand and cliffs are a very rich red, quaint harbors and the people delightful. 

We stayed in 3 different parks, two provincial and the third, Green Park, that has been leased out to a private group. This was our favorite with sites right out on the river. We stopped in Tyne Valley for a long anticipated oyster lunch that turned out to be a bad choice. We asked the waitress where one could buy fresh seafood and she suggested trucks parked along the highway. She also told us Green Park was miserable with bugs. We never saw seafood trucks nor were the bugs particularly bad but in fairness to her they were spraying the day we arrived. Another helpful shopkeeper gave us directions to the Burleigh Brothers, distributors of oysters and clams, located on Burleigh Road just off East Bideford that goes out to Lenox Island. 

Life has never been so good! We made 3 trips to Burleigh’s in as many days. The first for a box of 58 oysters that we ate raw and grilled using several different methods. The winner was shucking them on the half shell and putting them carefully on the grill w/a little garlic butter oil that quickly sizzled the oyster to perfection. Second for another box of 70+ clams that went into a wonderful clam linguini and the finale, another box of 40 larger clams for the best clam chowder we devoured last night. Why eat out when we have the best collection of chefs on board! Burleigh’s ships out oysters worldwide and trucks to the Boston area on a weekly basis as Legal Seafood is one of their clients. 

They were in the process of picking, grading, cleaning and polishing oysters that will be used in the shucking contest this weekend as a part of the oyster festival. They start with 2000, drill it down to the 600 that will be packaged in random boxes of 20 each for the 30 contestants that come from all provinces of CA. The winner will go on to an international contest held in Galway. Green Park was being prepared as the site of a rock concert with temporary showers and portapotties for all the tenters coming into the festival. With mixed feelings, it was time for us to move on. 

A note for another trip, the lobstering season in the area we were in is May - June. They were gearing up for the opening up of the west coast (Strait side) on August 9th. All the boats load up and wait for a signal to all leave the harbors at the same time. Again, we just couldn’t stay with a deadline of 8/12 to get home.

Kouchibouguac National Park, New Brunswick - July 29 - 30

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Kouchibouguac NP is a large, beautiful national park on the eastern shore. We would have stayed another day if we could but this turned out to be a long weekend with New Brunswick Day on Monday. We were able to get one 2 night site and one 1 night site with the hopes of a cancellation the second night. Although this didn't happen, they allowed us to move together for the second night.

The park is on both sides of the Kouchibouguac River with the larger, more developed campground on the south side where we stayed. Wonderful bicycle trails throughout. We were able to get a couple rides in. One out to Kelly's Beach with dunes and white sand and a second 17.5 mile run around to the other side of the river and out to Loggicroft where the fishermen's wharf is located.

Acadian Isles, NB - July 27 - 28

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Out on the NE most point of New Brunswick, the Acadian Islands are mostly bogs, marshes and blueberry fields. Miscou where we stayed is 50% bog. It takes 10 years for 1 centimeter of peat to build up. This machine is used to vacuum up the peat. Much of the area is French speaking Acadians but everywhere is bilingual; people and signage.

Black Point , NB - July 26

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Just another beautiful campsite on the Bay of Chaleur along the Acadian Coastal Drive at a campground called Camping by the Bay in Black Point, NB. According to our neighbor in a Rialta, New Brunswick is the only bilingual province. The folks here have all been extremely friendly and traveling just got a whole lot easier.

Next stop, the Acadian Isles.